Deofol

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When I first got into home brewing I watched an episode of Good Eats (with Alton Brown) on brewing beer. He used a 7lb bag of ice directly in the firmentor (which was a plastic bucket) to cool the wort down.

This got me thinking, since 7lbs of ice is approximately a tad less than a gallon of water (He said 7lbs+1 pint == 1 gallon), why couldn't you boil your wort as usual and when the time came to cool it, just drop in the ice?

Seems like it would save some time compared to doing an ice bath in the sink.

Thoughts?

Here is a link to the Good Eats episode if anyone is interested...

brewt00l

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iamjonsharp

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Adding store bought ice directly into your wort will increase your risk of infection, as you are adding unsanitized ingredients to your beer.

Does this mean your beer will be guaranteed to get infected and taste bad? No. Some people add ice directly and have no problems. But you are increasing the potential for an infection, just as you would if you didn't sanitize your bucket, other equipment etc.

I recommend against this method, unless you make your own sanitized ice.

-Jon

__________________
Primary - Cherry Chocolate Bock
Secondary - Stupid Berliner Weiss that won't sour...

Poindexter

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http://www.homebrewtalk.com/f13/can-you-cool-wort-ice-39544/

BTW one pint = one pound

one gallon = eight pounds